Infant&#39;s bathing appliance



Sept. 12, 1944. c. T. na puv 2358903 INFANT' S BATHING APPLIANCE Filed Nov. 13, 1943 l N VEN TOR.

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Patented Sept. 12, 1944 Charles T. De Puy, Brig hton, N. Y., assignor to 'I'-imble Nurseryland Furniture, Inc., Rochester. N. Y.. a-corporation of'New'York Application November 13, 1943, Serial No. 510,145

coaims. (c 4 177 This invention relates to an infants bathing appliance, with more particular reference to the type of Construction including 'a tub of flexible materialprovided with a hammock-like body rest for holding a baby above the bottom of the tub, and it has for its purpose :to afiord a practical, inexpensive, and emcient means for supporting the hammock-like body rest in proper position within the tub. i

'Efforts have heretofore beenmade to provide such a body rest with opposite. disposed parallel rods that are positionable in fiexible loops mounted at the ends .of the tub, .but 'such structure has the serious objection of a tendency for the rods to become disenga-ged from the loops unless of considerably greater length than the distance between theloops at opposite ends of a rod, and such structure also has no facilities for positioning the body rest at different elevations in relation to 'the bottom of the tub, and'it is a purpose of this invention to .provide exible sup- 'porting means for the rods that carry the body .rest and to construct such fiexible supporting means so that rods 'of minimum length can be employed without likelihood of their 'becoming 'accidentally' disengaged `from the supporting means, While also permitting therods tobe raised or lowered at the foot end of the tub to main tain the'foot 'end of the body rest in any one of the possible positions of adjustment.

Another purpose of the invention is to afiord adjustable rod supporting means that can be readily and economically produced from a double thickness of fabric. affording thenecessary adjustment without the use of metal fasteners or other metal parts and reducing to a minimum the amount of stock required for the wood ,or other rods of the body rest while holding the rods in such manner that the body rest is more firmly supported in the tub and held against excessive endwse movement.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction and arran-gement of parts that will appear more clearly from the following description when read in conjunction With the accompanying drawing, the novelfeature being pointed out in the claims at .the end of the specificaton.

In the drawing: p V

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a folding bath stand and 'tub showing the application thereto of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View taken centrally of the tub;

*rod 8. stitched along a vertical line l3 adjacent to its Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View on 'the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is a rdetail sectional view on the line 4-"4 of Figiz.

The structure iorming the subject matter of the invention is applicable to any infant's bath 'tub of collapsible form or otherwise, and is disclo-sed 'herein as applied to a conventional type of folding bath stand' with a collapsible fabric tub, and including pivotally connected -folding "cross-leg frames I and 2 including side rails 3 between whichis Suspended the collapsible tub 4.

Arranged 'within the tub '4 is a hammock-like fabric body rest 5 iorsupportng an infant somewhat above the bottom of the tub and including as a part thereof the head rest 6. The body rest 5 is provided with hems or tunnels at its side edges indicated at l and within which are located the rods 8 which may be of wood forma tion and extend beyond the ends of the body rest 5 to engage suitable devices for suspending 'the body rest within the tub.

At the head end of the tub, the rod 8 engage fabric loops 9 which are suitably astened to the side rails 3, the structure thus far described being of conventional form while the present invention has to do with the supporting means for the rods 8 at the foot end of the tub so as to prevent excessive endwise movement of the rods and hold tical adjustment of the body rest at the foot end of the tub to secure any desired inclination of the body rest, all oi these results being ac- -c mplished by the structure that will now be de scribed.

`Onjeac'h 'side of the tub toward the foot end there is provided supporting means preferably including a strip H that is attached in any convenient fashion at its upper end to the side rail of the tub While its lower end extend down wardly into the tub and is positioned to receive the adjacent end of rod 8 at any selected eleva tion and hold it securely against displacement.

'To accomplish this, the strip II is preferably composed 'of two thicknesses or plies of fabric st tched together along spaced parallel horizontal lines 12 to afford a series of vertically spaced receptacle portions for the adjacent end of the The' two thicknesses of fabric are also outer edge so as to form pockets which are closed on three sides and open on the side toward the end of rod 8.

With this arrangement, the end of the rod V abuts the closed end of the fabric pocket and is prevented thereby from movlng endwise to an appreciable extent, thus obviating excessive sliding of the rod such as takes place if it is supported at both ends in loop portions, and so holding the body rest' more rmly and obviating freedom of its endwise movement in the tub. This i makes it ,considerably easier to hold and bathe an infant, and also permits employing shorter rods than would otherwise be required, thus con- -tributing to a reduction in the cost of production. While each rod is thus firmly held against accidental removal asdescribed, it can be easily e adjusted by pushing it toward the head end of the tub and swinging the flexible pocket containing strip just described towardthe foot end of the tub until the rod is disengaged, after which it can be reengaged with any of the pockets in the fiexible supporting strip to sustain the body rest at any selected elevation at the foot end r of the tub and thus vary the inclination of the fications or departures as may come within the interit of the improvements andthe scope of the following claims.

e I claim: s

- l.- In 'an infant's bathing appliance including opposite side 'rails with a tub mounted therebej tween and a' body rest of flexible material located above the bottom of the tub and provided with separate parallel rods at opposite-edges, supporting means for saidrods comprising loops of flexible materialeattached to the side rails at the head' end of the tub and strips of flexible material attached at one end to the side rails at the foot end 'of the tub and each strip comprising two plies of fabric stitched along vertical and parallel horizontal lines forming a pocket to receive the adjacent end of one of said rods, said pocket being open on the side toward the rod and closed on the other three sides and acting to retain the rod and limit its endwise movement against accidental removal from the supporting means.

2. In an infant*s bathing appliance including opposite side rails with a tub mounted therebetween and'a body rest of fiexible material located above the bottom of the tub and provided with separate parallel rods at opposite edges, support- :ing means for said rods comprising loops of flexible material attached to the side rails at the head end of the tub and strips of fiexible material attached at one end to the side rails at the foot end of the tub and each strip comprising two plies of fabric stitched along vertical and horizontal lines forming a series of vertically spaced receptacle portions to receive the adjae cent end of one of said rods in the selected vertical position of one of said receptacle 'portions i and acting to prevent accidental removal of the rod from its supporting means.

3. In an infant's bathing appliance including opposite side rails With a tub mounted therebev said rods in the selected vertical position of`one tween and a body rest of flexible material located i above the bottom of the tub and provided with separate parallel rods at opposite edges, supporting means' for said rods'comprising loops of flexible material attached to theside railsjat the head end of the tub and strips each of which includes two thicknesses of flexible material attached at one end to the side rails -at the foot end of the tub and stitched together along vertical and spaced parallel horizontal lines, each of said strips affording `a series of vertically spaced receptacle portions to receive the adjacent end of one of of said receptacleportions and acting to prevent accidental removal of the rod from its supporting means.

4. In an infant's bathing appliance including opposite side rails with a tub mounted therebetween and a body rest of flexible material located above the bottom of the tub and provided with separate parallel rods at opposite edges, supporting means for said rods comprising loops of flexible material attached to the side rails at the head end of the tub and strips of fiexible material attached at one end to the side rails at the' foot end of the tub and each having' a series *of vertically spacedpockets to receive the adjacent end of'one of said rods in' the selected vertical position of one of said pockets, each pocket being open on the side toward the rod and closed on y the other three sides and acting to retain the rod against 'accidental removal from its supportin means and limit its endwise movement.

5. In` an infant's bathing appliance including opposite side rails with a tub mounted therebev tween and a` body rest of flexible material 10- cated above the bottom of the tuband provided' with separate parallel rods at opposite edges, supporting means for said rods com'prising loops of flexible material attached to theside rails at the head end of the tub and strips of flexible 'material attached at one end to the side rails at the foot end of the tub and each having a series of vertically spaced pockets stitched thereto to receive the adjacent end of one of said rods inthe selected-vertical position of one'of said'pockets,

each pocket being open on the side toward the,

rod and closed on the otherthree sides and acting to retain the rod against accidental removal from its supporting means and limit its endwise movei ment. r

6. In an infant's bathing appliance including opposite'side rails with a tub mounted therebetween and a body rest of flexible material located above the bottom of' the' tuband provided with separate parallel rods at opposite edges, supporting means for said rods comprising loops of flexible material attached to 'the side rails atthe head end of the tub and strips including two thicknesses of fiexible material attached at one` end to the side rails at the foot end of the tub and stitched together along one vertical edge and along spaced parallel lines horizontally, each of said strips affording a series of verticaly spaced pockets to receive the adjacent end of one of said rods in the selected vertical position of one of said pocket, each pocket being open on the side toward the rod and closed on the other three sides and acting to receive the rod and limit its longitudinal movement to prevent accidentalremoval of the rod from' its supporting means.

cHARLEs T. DE PUY( 

